Aberdeen & District MC Hill Climb

Fintray, 4 Jul 1971

Notes on the cars:

1. Hepworth FF 4WD ['1'] (David Hepworth): New for David Hepworth to drive in British hillclimbs in late 1968. In 1969, Hepworth appeared in 12 of the 14 rounds of the championship, winning five, finishing second in another four and third in two more. He easily won the championship. His only failure to finish was when he crashed at Creggan on the Tholt-y-Will hill climb in June. The car was also raced in F5000 in early 1969 by Bev Bond and Tony Lanfranchi, and in Formule Libre by Hepworth. It was used again in hillclimbs by Hepworth in 1970 with a 5-litre Chevrolet engine, when he again won five rounds but only finished second in the championship. He retained the FF for 1971, when he again won five of the 13 rounds, and took second in two, with four more third places. He clinched the title with two rounds to spare. In 1972, he took three wins and a second in the first six races, but then missed several rounds due to his BRM Interserie project and mechanical problems and ended the season tied for second place. Roy Lane also gave the Hepworth a try in a sprint at Curborough that season. Hepworth brought the 4WD car back for a fifth season in 1973, now sharing it with Richard Shardlow, but withdrew after a dreadful weekend at Wiscombe Park when the suspension collapsed in practice, and then the same thing happened to Shardlow during his championship climb. Hepworth then changed his focus to Interserie, and the Hepworth FF was dismantled. The car remained with the Hepworth family after David's death in 1992, and was rebuilt to appear at the Shelsley Walsh Centenary in 2005.
2. Brabham BT35X [2] (Tony Griffiths): Built for Tony Griffiths (Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands) for 1971, and fitted with a 5-litre Repco 740 V8 engine for the British Hill Climb Championship and occasional rounds of the British Sprint Championship. It won one round of each series. Griffiths retained it for 1972 when he again won one round in each series. To Malcolm Dungworth (Sheffield, South Yorkshire) for 1973 when he shared it with John Cussins (Leeds, West Yorkshire). They shared the car again in 1974 and in 1975, when Cussins won a championship round at Barbon Manor. Dungworth then ran it alone in 1976 and 1977. It was sold to Terry Smith in October 1977, and raced by him in the Sprint series in 1978. After racing it again in early 1979, he transferred the Repco engine into a March 75A/761 in June, and the BT35X was sold to Mike Remnant in south-west England. Remnant did not race it, sticking to his BT30, and sold it on to Roger Jordan who fitted a Ford twin cam engine and ran it in SW events from about 1981. He later replaced the engine with a Rover V8. It was raced by Mark Haynes, still with the Rover V8, at Werrington Park in 1985. In 1986, Jordan sold it to Ted Walker (Dursley, Gloucestershire) who sold it on to Shaun Mooney. Mooney had it restored by Simon Hadfield, fitted a Cosworth BDA, and raced it in historic racing from 1991 to 1996. In 2002, the car was sold to Japan and ran in Japanese historic events where it was noted as having the name "E. Sekiya" on the side. It changed hands in 2004 and was rebuilt by the Mecca racing garage at Tsukuba circuit in 2008. It was offered for sale by its Japanese owner in August 2015, and was acquired by Ross Drybrough (Worthing, West Sussex). At this point it was in "F2" specification with a BDA engine. Restored and raced by Drybrough in HSCC F2 in 2022.
3. Lola T142 [SL142/31] (Willie Forbes): See full history: Lola T142 SL142/31.
4. Chevron B15 [F3-69-10] (Iain McLaren): New to Natalie Goodwin's Goodwin Racing for Cyd Williams to race in European F3 from June 1969 onwards, replacing the team's well-used Brabham BT21B. Retained for early 1970 when it was raced by Williams and Ian Ashley, then sold to dealer Bobby Howlings. To Iain McLaren (Broxburn, Scotland) for 1971 and raced in Scottish hillclimbs in the 1300cc single-seater class. To Kenny Allen and continued in Scottish hillclimbs in 1972 and 1973. Unknown after 1973 until advertised by Bobby Howlings' Cheshire Sports Cars Ltd as a rolling chassis in July 1975. The car was bought from Howlings by Simon Price (Shrewsbury), who kept it, unused, for 20 years until selling it to George Jack in June 1996. The car still had its 1000cc F3 engine and Hewland gearbox and Jack completely rebuilt the car. Jack then relocated to New Zealand in January 1988, taking the car with him, and won his class in the 1998/99 Thoroughbred & Classic Car Owners Club (TACCOC) historic championship. He later fitted a 1500cc pre-crossflow Ford engine, and then a Formula B Lotus twin cam and Hewland Mk 5.
5. TechCraft (Gray Mickel): Built by Roy Lane (Warwick, Warwickshire) and fitted with a 3.5-litre Buick V8 engine for the 1969 hillclimb season. Lane won first time out in the car at a Formula Libre race at Silverstone in March 1969. He also won British Hillclimb Chanpionship rounds at Doune in Juen and at Great Auclum in August. To John Cussins (Leeds, West Yorkshire) for the 1970 season, and used in sprints and hillclimbs. To Gray & Agnes Mickel (Glasgow, Scotland) for 1971, who used it in Scottish hillclimbs. To Ian Swift and Terry Smith for 1972 and 1973. For 1974, it was acquired by Roger "Doc" Willoughby (Sulhamstead, Berkshire), and used in southwestern hillclimb for the next three seasons. Unknown from 1977 to 1980, but at the start of 1981 it was bought by Tony Howard and Bob Kirk to defend Howard's Cinque Ports Flying Club Lydden libre championship. Howard referred to it as the "3.5-litre Buck-engined Tech-Craft Brabham BT21". In 1982, it was used by R.F. Gillingham (Mile Oak Garage) at the Brighton Speed Trials. In 1984, it was acquired by Peter Voigt (Haywards Heath, Sussex), and retained by him for many years.
6. TechCraft (Agnes Mickel): Built by Roy Lane (Warwick, Warwickshire) and fitted with a 3.5-litre Buick V8 engine for the 1969 hillclimb season. Lane won first time out in the car at a Formula Libre race at Silverstone in March 1969. He also won British Hillclimb Chanpionship rounds at Doune in Juen and at Great Auclum in August. To John Cussins (Leeds, West Yorkshire) for the 1970 season, and used in sprints and hillclimbs. To Gray & Agnes Mickel (Glasgow, Scotland) for 1971, who used it in Scottish hillclimbs. To Ian Swift and Terry Smith for 1972 and 1973. For 1974, it was acquired by Roger "Doc" Willoughby (Sulhamstead, Berkshire), and used in southwestern hillclimb for the next three seasons. Unknown from 1977 to 1980, but at the start of 1981 it was bought by Tony Howard and Bob Kirk to defend Howard's Cinque Ports Flying Club Lydden libre championship. Howard referred to it as the "3.5-litre Buck-engined Tech-Craft Brabham BT21". In 1982, it was used by R.F. Gillingham (Mile Oak Garage) at the Brighton Speed Trials. In 1984, it was acquired by Peter Voigt (Haywards Heath, Sussex), and retained by him for many years.

Sources

Note that the identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' published results.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.